Monday, October 24, 2011

Edna Adan at TED

Edna Adan will give a presentation at the upcoming TED conference in Geneva about her work in service to the women of Somaliland.

She will discuss how she came home to Hargeisa in 1997 from a career at the World Health Organization to find Somaliland’s health care system in ruins.

“The ten year Civil war from 1982 to 1991 caused the death of a quarter million of our people and destroyed 95% of the country including schools and hospitals.” And so she decided to build a hospital using her own life savings and her pension.

With our limited resources, we know that country-wide coverage with doctors and graduate midwives will not be possible for a long time which is why we have chosen a low-tech, low-cost and time-effective solution: To train as many Community Midwives as we can, and train them now as a priority!

Edna’s message is, “If Somaliland which is among the least developed countries in Africa can do it, anybody can!”

The live webcast takes place from 4-6pm Geneva time on Sunday 27 November. Remember to watch.

If you’ve never before seen a TED video, then go to their web site www.TED.com and pick any video at random.

They’re all very brief and they are all treasures. Edna feels honored to have been chosen for inclusion among such luminaries.